"Gerald Myers and Bobby Knight have been friends for years," said Larry Merriman. "They coached together at the Pan American Games 10 or 15 years ago, back when Gerald was coaching. Gerald was an assistant to Knight for the games, and they became good friends."

A former college coach close to Knight and a reporter from a national television network said that Myers and Tech President David Schmidly traveled to Naples, Fla., to meet with the former Indiana University coach.

"They became good friends during the games," Merriman said. "I understand that friendship has continued through the years."

Merriman, who describes himself as somewhat of a Knight fan, said that the coach would be a different person if he takes over the men's basketball program at Tech.

"He has learned from his mistakes at Indiana," he said. "He likes to coach, and he wants to coach again."